Ex-pat family life with crochet, arts & crafts thrown in.

Sunday Sevens #125 4.3.18

While the UK has been in the grips of the snow and ice brought by the ‘Beast from the East’, down here in Gibraltar, we’ve had a bit of a battering from Storm Emma too. We knew it was coming, but we got a heck of a pounding from the winds, rain and hail storms.

Where ever you are I hope you made it through the last seven days warm and dry! Here’s this week’s Sunday Sevens:

Last rays of sunshine

We were well warned that there was bad weather on the way so as the sun was shining on Sunday afternoon I felt compelled to take the Little Postcards out on their scooters to the park while we still could. Initially they were reluctant to leave their digital devices but they had a great time and were very pleased that they’d made the effort. We haven’t visited the Alameda Botanical Gardens for a while, so it was lovely to go back there and admire the architectural plants (and tear down the sloping paths at high speed!!).

First trip up the Rock in ages

On Monday, the terrible weather we had been warned about hadn’t yet arrived so I took the opportunity to climb up to the top of the Rock for the first time in a month. I had a nasty dose of bronchitis in February and it knocked me out of action for a bit, I’m now a lot better although have been left with very sore ribs from coughing.

Anyway, I wasn’t brave enough to attempt the Med Steps in case I felt a bit funny, I thought it safer to attempt the roads instead – you can climb to the same height but it’s more gradual and there’s a better chance of seeing other people. I made it up to the top and was rather pleased with myself. Once the bad weather clears I think I’ll be ready to attempt the Steps next time.

I went for a bit of a wander while I was up there and went along Douglas Path (a newly refurbished part of the Upper Rock) for the first time. You can see the pictures here.

Oh, and I spotted some processionary caterpillars on the way back down. They may look furry and cute, but they are best avoided – they fire off the hairs on their backs which are loaded with nasty toxins.

Dressmaking

Enough of the toile already, let’s get cracking with the real thing!! I’ve reached the nerve wracking part of my dress construction at dressmaking class – actually cutting it out. If I make a mess of this, it could be disastrous! No going back now!

Rainbows

Grey skies don’t bother me when I have a crochet rainbow to work on!! I’m really enjoying the bright colours on this project. Just the antidote for the bad weather.

Wild weather

The flags were barely still hanging onto their poles at Parsons Lodge on Thursday morning. It was a bit wild. Between getting up at 7 and leaving the house around 8:30, we had thunder and lightning, hailstones, gales, drizzle and calm. It was a lovely trip to School though (I drove for a change and the roads were empty) as many people must have decided to keep their children at home and out of the storm. It was very eerie. Needless to say I was brought up up north and my children weren’t going to miss school for a bit of rain, hail and gale force winds 🙈.

The bad weather continued into the weekend. World Book Day was postponed over here until next week so costumes weren’t ruined by the rain and wind and outdoor activities could still go ahead. We had bits blowing off buildings and even a large rock fall from the north face of the Rock on Friday which closed a road and made an awful mess of some parked cars.

Watercolour class

I did a little poll on Instagram for what flower to paint next after my irises and daffs, and tulips won! We’ll see how this one progresses when I start painting it next week at my watercolour lesson.

That’s all for this week, let’s hope this bad weather soon comes to an end! Here’s a few pictures from last month – that blue sky looks lovely after this last week!

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4 thoughts on “Sunday Sevens #125 4.3.18”

I’m loving the tulips already! You obviously get the most out of both your watercolour and dressmaking classes, and it’s good practise to do a toile first – not that I ever do because I’m so impatient! Hopefully you’ll be up to doing the Med Steps again soon. Sorry to hear that your illness has taken its time to leave you. I can empathise with sore ribs from coughing after I experienced the same when I broke mine – coughing was sheer torture!

Thanks so much Sheila, I love my lessons. They are the subjects I would’ve loved to study when I was younger but grown ups and common sense encouraged me down a more academic path. I’m so lucky to get the chance to do it now though – better late than never! Yes these ribs are a bit sore to be honest. I had a scan today to see what’s going on, I’d been on anti-inflammatory pills and thought it was loads better until I forgot to take them yesterday and the pain came back. I have permission from the Dr to do the Steps again though, so as soon as this heavy rain and gales pass I’ll head up there – but slowly at first!